Ludovico Einaudi, the Italian pianist who became a star of “background music”

This is the story of a man caught up in his oldest enemy: gravity. Thanks to his music, Ludovico Einaudi tore himself away from the political and familial gravity that weighed down the Piedmont of his childhood. But, as his pieces seduced the crowds, the composer had to defy other heavinesses – those that inevitably come with success. At 69, he will play on the monster stage of Paris's La Défense Arena, a few months after having sold out – if we stick to the Paris region alone – an Accor Arena and two Seine Musicale venues. In these immense arenas, what remains of the youthful enthusiasm that saw him turn his back on the Einaudi, one of the most respectable lineages on the peninsula?

The musician welcomes us to the hills surrounding his family stronghold, Dogliani. A small town of barely 5,000 inhabitants, 75 kilometers south of Turin, the metropolis where he grew up and still lives. His country house overlooks a landscape of typically Piedmontese softness and roundness: a few hamlets, watched over by century-old bell towers, lean against hillsides covered in endless forests and vineyards. This is where Ludovico Einaudi spent his holidays as a child. This is where, years later, he set up his recording studio. "My partner Paola and I renovated it during the pandemic, respecting the simplicity of the place," he says simply.

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